"I can't do this movie, Paul": The George Clooney and Ryan Gosling 'The Notebook' story

While Nicholas Sparks' romantic novel 'The Notebook' melted hearts as a film, with Ryan Gosling in the lead role, "it was almost very different," as George Clooney revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Imagine a world where instead of Gosling, George Clooney was Noah, the charming, rugged lumber mill worker.

The Dream Casting That Almost Happened

Speaking about his then-upcoming film 'The Midnight Sky,' George Clooney dropped a fascinating revelation about his potential involvement in 'The Notebook.' He recalled, "I was going to do a movie years ago called The Notebook, that Ryan Gosling actually did, and I was going to do it with Paul Newman." The idea of two Hollywood legends starring in this tearjerker seems alluring. Still, Clooney pointed out the uncrossable hurdle - both actors were too famous.

Looking at Newman, Clooney confessed, "I can't do this movie, Paul ... Because everybody knows what you look like at 30 years old. You got blue eyes, I got brown eyes. You're too famous at 30 for me to be playing you at 30, it's never gonna work." And Newman, evidently, agreed.

The Unforeseen Benefit of Clooney's Decision

As reported by UPROXX, Clooney's version of 'The Notebook' was an early incarnation of the project that had been in the works since the novel’s publication in 1996. However, it's fair to say things turned out just fine without Clooney:

Despite the might-have-been scenario, it's fascinating to imagine a 'From Dusk Till Dawn'-era Clooney playing the cross-class love story in 'The Notebook.' While we can't turn back time and cast Clooney, we can appreciate the chain of events that led to the film we know and love today.

(Several parts of the text in this article, including the title, were generated with the help of an AI tool.)